Having your docs in hand

[CruiseGal999]

This is such a sad story, but reiterates the need to keep your documentation in your carry on.

Too bad NCL doesn't have more compassion for their customers.

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2018/01/27/left-dock-and-looking-for-refund-and-some-compassion-from-cruise-line/mszHE2cq2Po5k9ZY9EnPvL/story.html

 

You're too late. It's been posted several times AND NCL has reimbursed the couple AND given them a free cruise any time they want. Just FYI.

[CruiseGal999]

I was responding to psuedoware (the post immediately above mine), who essentially said, if there was a problem, no matter whose responsibility, the company must do more, more, more.. to fix and prevent any possible problems. More signs, more policies and procedures, more staff, more everything from the company, NCL in this case. But no more responsibility from the people who didn't carry their paperwork as required.

 

The company could have done a lot of things, I suppose, but the responsibility for everything here falls on the couple.

 

A company (NCL or the Port) simply can not train staff to think of ALL of the What Ifs. It isn't humanly possible.

[Computer Nerd]

This is such a sad story, but reiterates the need to keep your documentation in your carry on.

Too bad NCL doesn't have more compassion for their customers.

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2018/01/27/left-dock-and-looking-for-refund-and-some-compassion-from-cruise-line/mszHE2cq2Po5k9ZY9EnPvL/story.html

 

NCL should have more compassion for passengers by breaking US law? Really?? :rolleyes:

 

The passenger messed up and realized it but made assumptions. This is purely the fault of the passenger.

[Computer Nerd]

NCL did make good:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/01/28/norwegian-cruise-line-changes-course-offers-couple-apology-refund-and-dream-trip/JfHQCLMLSi9ZqjNug1EovI/amp.html

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Forums mobile app

 

So if you're old enough and whine enough to the right people, you CAN rip off a cruise line. :mad:

[sparks1093]

This EXACT scenario happen to a family on one of my cruises and it was devastating to watch them have to lose their hard earned vacation. I read somewhere to keep a photo copy of your passport in your wallet in the event that you lose your passport and I have done that EVERY time I travel, Period. Losing a passport happens. I once lost my drivers license in the airport terminal during a flight connection and happened to have have my passport and was able to board but it was scary JMHO.

 

A photocopy of your passport is all well and good, but in the scenario being discussed would have done nothing to get you on the ship (it might help some if you lose your passport and need assistance from a Consulate). Having a photocopy handy of your birth certificate, however, would have made all the difference (but only for a closed loop cruise).

[sparks1093]

NCL should have more compassion for passengers by breaking US law? Really?? :rolleyes:

 

The passenger messed up and realized it but made assumptions. This is purely the fault of the passenger.

 

So if you're old enough and whine enough to the right people, you CAN rip off a cruise line. :mad:

 

As stated yes, the passengers did screw up, no doubt about it, yep and yep. But NCL did also when the CSR sat them in the terminal for three hours after assuring them that their luggage would be found. And on that basis alone NCL owed them something from at least a customer service standpoint. I, for one, am glad to read that they did step up.

[rccampbell]

NCL did make good:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/01/28/norwegian-cruise-line-changes-course-offers-couple-apology-refund-and-dream-trip/JfHQCLMLSi9ZqjNug1EovI/amp.html

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Forums mobile app

;

 

This proves the power of the crowd can make a difference. Excellent NCL!

[rucu]

Just wondering...when we get off in ports...should we take our passports with us or leave them locked up in the safe onboard?

[BlueRiband]

Good for them!

 

Cue all the haters and whiners who feel "special treatment" isn't fair to the rest of us, and that they deserved to be stranded and lose money for "not following instructions." ...

 

In that case one wonders to whom a company gives "special treatment" and who has to eat the fare for "not following instructions". Tell a heart wrenching story to the press? Shame them on their social media page? Keep calling until one finds a supervisor who sees it their way?

 

 

Some posters believe that there should be more safeguards, more signs, more warnings about proper travel documents. But whenever something like this does happen there will always be the argument that the cruise line could have or should have done more. It all comes down to the one thing: Nobody has to be responsibile for their own actions.

[sparks1093]

Just wondering...when we get off in ports...should we take our passports with us or leave them locked up in the safe onboard?

 

The answer on this one is mixed as some will take them ashore and some will leave them in the safe, almost a 50/50 mix. You have to do what you feel comfortable doing. There are many threads on this that give the pros and cons of each approach. (In our FWIW department we leave ours in the safe unless we have to carry them ashore for an excursion or because the local government requires it.)

[myfuzzy]

I've told this story before....On Princess they offer a Bon Voyage Experience. I had read here on CC what it was all about. Boarding time is 11:30 with a stay of about 3:00. It includes a "free" glass of wine with lunch in the MDR and a photo. It is limited to 50 people or so per sailing.I got 2 of the last 4 places open, so I know there has to be at least 48 other people in the group..the issue started at the door of the terminal.We just got off the Royal Princess and this was the Regal Princess, I approached a worker in uniform and told them we were part of the BVE, told to go "stand in THAT line....the one that has say 1000 people in it, I say hmmmm, because it's supposed to be "priority" boarding ahead of everyone, boarding with wedding parties and such....so, I tell my DH to stay in that line, while I go ask someone else. I get told, "that line". the same one where we were, SO now its approaching 11:30 and I again ask someone else...OH...sure come on this line over here. waved my DH out of the "forever line and..we were ushered in the terminal and through the security check and waited in line to check in, so far.good. Then we get our paperwork and told to "sit over there" ??? Where were the other BVE ers? I knew this wasn't right.....So, I take the envelope and boarding pass, holding them up, I ask uniformed employees where the group was...I get deer in the headlights look and told again "wait here" NOW, I'm getting a little PO'd, I ask every uniformed person I see, asking where the BVE group was, finally I get some guy who "escorts" us onboard and "passes" us off to some woman to give us a "guided tour" HUH. We didn't need the "guided tour" just wanted to go off on our own. Again, where is the group? But, being rushed and ushered onto the ship, he by passed the photographer. Uh, photo included, so to get our photo, we had to get off the ship go back into the terminal, find the photographer, who had to change the chip, to keep our photo separate, and reboard the ship. Now, its 12:30 ish, we go to the MDR. Get seated, give the waiter our letter for the "free" wine. Start chatting with the rest of the table, waiter comes back and tells us that this dining room is for REAL guests and we have to leave....Stunned, we say our good bye's to the table, find a Matre' d in the next dining room, tell him what happened and show him the letter, he takes us BACK to the original dining room, get re seated and have our lunch, by the time we got our lunch it was now 1:45. So we now an an hour to tour the ship. We go to the photography studio to claim our photos and no one is to be found (I would say they were busy in the terminal) We found our photos in a back corner, picked them up, found a folder and left...Where were the other BVE ers?

 

Well, we never found them and disembarked the ship at 3:00. If it wasn't for my aggressiveness, we probably would have not made the ship. Sit over there....NOT....If you know something isn't right, you need to keep nagging everyone in uniform, be a pest, ask for a supervisor if needed, if push comes to shove call the port authorities and tell them what's going on. Its your money....make sure you get what you paid for.....

[sparks1093]

In that case one wonders to whom a company gives "special treatment" and who has to eat the fare for "not following instructions". Tell a heart wrenching story to the press? Shame them on their social media page? Keep calling until one finds a supervisor who sees it their way?

 

 

Some posters believe that there should be more safeguards, more signs, more warnings about proper travel documents. But whenever something like this does happen there will always be the argument that the cruise line could have or should have done more. It all comes down to the one thing: Nobody has to be responsibile for their own actions.

 

The squeaky wheel generally gets the grease, but I don't believe that happened in this case. As I've mentioned many times NCL dropped the customer service ball when their agent sat the couple in the terminal after assuring them that their luggage would be found. At that point NCL owed the couple at least a refund of their cruise fare if for no other reason than to provide good customer service. They chose not to do that and evidently refused any type of refund. NCL then received some bad press and finally realized that a refund was in order and then had to throw in a free cruise to combat the bad press. Had they done the right thing (from a CS standpoint) from the beginning none of us would likely have heard of this at all. (And part of this is empowering your supervisors and managers at a fairly low level to make this type of call and as I understand NCL's management structure this is far from the case.)

[Bizmark'sMom]

So, what would the right thing have been?

- Tell the couple, truthfully, that they would not be able to board and offer to call them a cab?

- Ask if anybody had access to their birth certificates and could email them?

 

Offering them an immediate refund is ridiculous. People forget their documents and are refused boarding. It happens. The cruise line is not responsible for that. IF, the couple had spoken up the instant they realized their passports were in the luggage, there might have been a chance. That's not what happened. None of this is the fault of the cruise line.

[mef_57]

NCL did make good:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/01/28/norwegian-cruise-line-changes-course-offers-couple-apology-refund-and-dream-trip/JfHQCLMLSi9ZqjNug1EovI/amp.html

The rational side of me says 'they screwed up and NCL is possibly opening up that thin wedge of making accommodations for others', but the emotional side of me says 'Yeah!!!!!"

[sparks1093]

So' date=' what would the right thing have been?

- Tell the couple, truthfully, that they would not be able to board and offer to call them a cab?

- Ask if anybody had access to their birth certificates and could email them?

 

Offering them an immediate refund is ridiculous. People forget their documents and are refused boarding. It happens. The cruise line is not responsible for that. IF, the couple had spoken up the instant they realized their passports were in the luggage, there might have been a chance. That's not what happened. None of this is the fault of the cruise line.[/quote']

 

There was three hours from the time they first started checking in, so there was time. We aren't talking fault as in legal fault here, we're talking customer service responsibility. Yes, it would have been good customer service if the couple had been told, "while you are waiting please try to get copies of your birth certificates emailed or faxed just in case we can't find the luggage in time". Offering them an immediate refund under these unique circumstances wouldn't have been a bad thing at all but certainly offering them one when they contacted Corporate would have certainly been a better course of action for the cruise line.

[rccampbell]

You're too late. It's been posted several times AND NCL has reimbursed the couple AND given them a free cruise any time they want. Just FYI.

 

I am sorry, but I am the OP and had posted this story on CC at 7:48 cst on Sunday morning. NCL had NOT stepped up to the plate yet. That didn't happen until Sunday afternoon.

 

My biggest reason for shaming NCL, was because they had the couple sit down in the terminal for 3 plus hours and assured them all would be good. It was not because the couple forgot their paperwork in the luggage, it was because of the way NCL handled the situation.

 

Another thought..... did anyone check to see if the couples bags had been delivered to their state room prior to sail away? Sometimes, we just have to think outside the box just a little bit especially when we are assisting the elderly, the disabled or the young.

 

Also, can we be sure that once the couple was seated to wait....did anyone actually try to find the luggage? Was there any plan what so ever to assist them or were they sat there and forgotten about? This is why NCL needed to step up their customer service.

[mjkacmom]

I am sorry, but I am the OP and had posted this story on CC at 7:48 cst on Sunday morning. NCL had NOT stepped up to the plate yet. That didn't happen until Sunday afternoon.

 

My biggest reason for shaming NCL, was because they had the couple sit down in the terminal for 3 plus hours and assured them all would be good. It was not because the couple forgot their paperwork in the luggage, it was because of the way NCL handled the situation.

 

Another thought..... did anyone check to see if the couples bags had been delivered to their state room prior to sail away? Sometimes, we just have to think outside the box just a little bit especially when we are assisting the elderly, the disabled or the young.

 

Also, can we be sure that once the couple was seated to wait....did anyone actually try to find the luggage? Was there any plan what so ever to assist them or were they sat there and forgotten about? This is why NCL needed to step up their customer service.

Why are you assuming they weren’t looking for the luggage? I expect that it would be difficult, but if they said they were going to try and find it, I assume they tried to find it. If this was a person behind the counter, she doesn’t work for NCL, but I expect she told those on the ship about the issue.

[rccampbell]

Why are you assuming they weren’t looking for the luggage? I expect that it would be difficult, but if they said they were going to try and find it, I assume they tried to find it. If this was a person behind the counter, she doesn’t work for NCL, but I expect she told those on the ship about the issue.

 

I do not assume anything, I just wonder, and we can hope that the ship had been notified of the situation. We will never know for sure I am guessing.

NCL stepped up to the plate and that is all that matters except to remind us all......Please keep your documents on your person until you are on the ship and can lock them in the safe.

[Keys2Heaven]

I do not assume anything, I just wonder, and we can hope that the ship had been notified of the situation. We will never know for sure I am guessing.

NCL stepped up to the plate and that is all that matters except to remind us all......Please keep your documents on your person until you are on the ship and can lock them in the safe.

 

These stories are always bittersweet to me. Yes, it is nice NCL finally say the light, but why did it take such a huge outcry before they did? There were so many missed opportunities by NCL on this one.

[SRF]

I agree that technically NCL cannot be faulted to denying boarding. However, if what I read was factual, the treatment of the elderly couple was kind of cruel and without any compassion. I don't know, I think this is enough to add NCL to the list of companies that I will avoid.

 

What would you have the do?

 

And why is their age a factor?

[vacation luvver]

So if you're old enough and whine enough to the right people, you CAN rip off a cruise line.

Yeah! I'm a senior citizen, so there's nothing preventing me from booking a cruise with NCL that I have no intention of taking, showing up for it and complaining that oh, dear, I packed my passport by mistake, and whine and cry about it, so that they'll give me back all my money and a free cruise, which I'l use to take a cruise I really want to take. Of course, I wouldn't really pack my passport. I would just tell them that I did. No way would I let my passport get out of my control. It seems that NCL just took the old couple's word for it that their passports were packed. And if NCL didn't give me my money back plus a free cruise, I would complain to the media that they did so for that old couple, so why not for me.

 

No, I don't think that I would do this, but I bet a lot of other people would, seeing that it worked with this old couple. all their money back, plus a free cruise! NCL doesn't do that for people who are foolish enough to carry their passports instead of packing them. Why aren't people who follow the rules entitled to a free cruise?

[mjkacmom]

I am sorry, but I am the OP and had posted this story on CC at 7:48 cst on Sunday morning. NCL had NOT stepped up to the plate yet. That didn't happen until Sunday afternoon.

 

My biggest reason for shaming NCL, was because they had the couple sit down in the terminal for 3 plus hours and assured them all would be good. It was not because the couple forgot their paperwork in the luggage, it was because of the way NCL handled the situation.

 

Another thought..... did anyone check to see if the couples bags had been delivered to their state room prior to sail away? Sometimes, we just have to think outside the box just a little bit especially when we are assisting the elderly, the disabled or the young.

 

Also, can we be sure that once the couple was seated to wait....did anyone actually try to find the luggage? Was there any plan what so ever to assist them or were they sat there and forgotten about? This is why NCL needed to step up their customer service.

But it’s most likely that a NCL employee was not the cause, but someone who worked for the port, like this company. http://metrocruiseservices.com/our-services/ground-guest-services/

[sparks1093]

But it’s most likely that a NCL employee was not the cause, but someone who worked for the port, like this company. http://metrocruiseservices.com/our-services/ground-guest-services/

 

The bags are moved onto the ship fairly quickly in order to allow the crew to sort them and get them ready to deliver them. Regardless of where the breakdown occurred the fact remains that the bags were not found. I certainly hope that NCL didn't send the bags back to the couple COD, but it wouldn't surprise me to find out that they did.

[mjkacmom]

The bags are moved onto the ship fairly quickly in order to allow the crew to sort them and get them ready to deliver them. Regardless of where the breakdown occurred the fact remains that the bags were not found. I certainly hope that NCL didn't send the bags back to the couple COD, but it wouldn't surprise me to find out that they did.

Some bags don’t show up until hours after sailaway, you can’t blame NCL for not being able to locate a bag in a couple of hours or less. People are blaming those employees on the pier for not showing compassion or being helpful, but they don’t work for NCL.

[navybankerteacher]

 

...

 

It was not because the couple forgot their paperwork in the luggage, it was because of the way NCL handled the situation.

 

...

.

 

You do realize, of course, that "the situation" whose handling you are discussing was caused by the couple.

 

They created the situation -- without that NCL would not have faced the very difficult (which they should not be expected to have anticipated) task of trying to intercept and recapture two out of thousands of pieces of luggage being passed from terminal porters to pierside handlers, loaded onto containers to transfer to the ship, unloaded from containers and then delivered to individual cabins --- the completion of which process often takes until well after sailing.

 

Yes, it was ALL "...because the couple forgot their paperwork in the luggage...".

 

Sure, they were elderly --- at what age are people excused of responsibility for problems of their making:

85, 80, 75, 65, why not 50? I suspect ageism has played a large part in the reactions to this tale.